I’ll trust Coach Cignetti. As much as I don’t like the process, I will trust Coach Cig. The traditionalist that I am wanted Alberto Mendoza to take the Indiana QB mantle from his big brother. You know, like we used to. A guy can dream, or at least wistfully look back now and again. Needless to say, I now have a reason to keep up with the “Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech” this season. Go Alberto Go! Glad we don’t play y’all.

Back to the here and now, as we say in the counseling business. I trust Coach Cig. Why wouldn’t I? Did you see last season and the season before that in Bloomington? Productivity over potential. Well, Indiana Football is about to lean into some serious productivity when Josh Hoover takes the field as the starting quarterback of the 2026 Indiana Hoosiers.

Josh Hoover originally signed with Indiana University coming out of high school. Nick Sheridan was the OC of the Hoosiers in 2021 and these two were on the same page. Indiana was coming of a disaster of a season in 2021. In a matter of hours in December that year, Michael Penix, Jr left Indiana via the transfer portal, Coach Nick Sheridan was fired and replaced with Walt Bell, and Josh Hoover announced that he flipped from Indiana to TCU when Sonny Dykes was named the head coach there. Dykes had recruited Hoover as the head coach of SMU. And please know that Josh Hoover played high school in Heath, Texas. Hoover had teammates on his high school team that signed to play college football with the likes of Minnesota, Auburn, Eastern Illinois, Stephen F. Austin, Baylor, Navy, and South Carolina. There was some talent there. It’s Texas.

Here’s where the productivity shows up. Josh Hoover comes to Indiana with 9629 passing yards and 71 touchdowns with him. Yes, there are 33 interceptions coming too. Well, not really. I can look at TCU and squarely say those 33 interceptions were thrown in YOUR system. You didn’t have Coach Mike Shanahan calling plays for you. Indiana does have Coach Shanahan. And Coach Shanahan took Kurtis Rourke and elevated him on a bad leg in 2024. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. Coach Shanahan took Fernando Mendoza and elevated him in 2025. We all know what happened there. That was fun. Now it is Josh Hoover’s time and Josh is going to be delighted he finally found his way to Bloomington. Better late than never.

The look on Coach Cig’s face is indicative of my feelings toward some folks in Birmingham, Alabama. Like so many others, I look forward to the college football season; I look forward to reading the season preview magazines. Athlon, Lindy’s, Phil Steele, The Sporting News, I enjoy them all. We can always depend on our friends from Birmingham, Alabama to not let us down. They don’t like the Indiana Hoosiers. After Indiana dismantled the Alabama Crimson Tide in The Rose Bowl on January 1st, it was more than the folks at Lindy’s in Birmingham, Alabama could take. In layman’s terms when Indiana beat Alabama 38-3 in The Rose Bowl, the folks at Lindy’s swallowed their snuff.

Last year, when the Hoosiers came off a season when they made the College Football Playoff and had a 11-2 record, that did not impress the folks at Lindy’s.

They said last year’s Indiana team would be the 31st most impressive team in the land. They also picked Indiana to be the 9th best team in the Big Ten last year. So, you can imagine how chapped their backside was after Indiana beat their beloved Alabama Crimson Tide 38-3 in The Rose Bowl.

This year, Lindy’s gave Indiana a little due in the preview magazine.

This year’s cover is on the right. Lindy’s picked Indiana #5 in this year’s preview issue. Of course, they still have their ongoing love affair with the Texas Longhorns. They picked Texas 1st last year and 2nd this year.

You notice my Lindy’s preview issue this year features USC and UCLA. I like those guys. Well, this is where Lindy’s tried to exact their revenge on Indiana University and their 38-3 shellacking of the Alabama Crimson Tide in The Rose Bowl.

There are 16 covers to choose from, if you are ordering your Lindy’s Sports College Football National 2026 Preview from Birmingham, Alabama.

Ask yourself this, with all these cover options, when was the last time Lindy’s offered up a cover that DID NOT include the previous National Champion? That only happens when you are Indiana and you beat Alabama 38-3 in The Rose Bowl and your magazine is from Birmingham, Alabama. You a Rutgers fan? Got a cover for you! Wisconsin fans? The folks in Birmingham wouldn’t leave you out! In fact, there are ELEVEN Big Ten Teams featured on one of these 16 unique covers. The National Champs are not found. That is what happens to the Indiana Hoosiers when they beat down the Alabama Crimson Tide 38-3 in The Rose Bowl.

I dedicate this photo to our friends at Lindy’s. I took this photo at…well, you know.